Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance

Late Mr Muazzam Ali firmly believed in the concept of the Islamic Financial System. He was not only a pioneer in introducing and promoting Islamic banking and insurance but also in the filed of education and training. His guidance and advice to this sector often came in the shape of his editorial comment in the Institute's magazine NEWHORIZON which he founded, dedicated initially to the cause of Muslims the world over, and later, to serve as the mouth piece of the Islamic banking sector.

Late Mr Muazzam Ali was born in Ferozpur, East Punjab, India. He graduated and earned his Master degree from Government College, Lahore (now in Pakistan). After completing his studies, he joined the Chamber of Princes, Delhi as Press and Public and Relations Officer. On the partition of the Indian sub-continent, he migrated to Pakistan and commenced his journalistic career with the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), new agency in 1950. He worked in Cairo, Egypt, as an APP correspondent and on his return, he held various senior positions while continuing to serve at APP. In 1956, wanting to work independently, he established the Pakistan Press Association (PPA), later renamed as Pakistan Press International (PPI) after having grown into a global network. He also set up a public service foundation in 1967 known as the Pakistan Press Foundation which is a media training and research organisation, with special emphasis on providing training in journalism, especially in rural areas and most particularly to women journalists.

In the early 1970s, with the PPI having become a powerful independent press, late Mr Muazzam Ali developed serious differences with the then government in Pakistan on the issue of freedom of press and in 1975 was forced to leave the country, choosing to move to London. The PPI was later taken over by the Pakistan government and in the interim, the agency was managed by his younger brother, late Mr Aslam Ali, who maintained the independent press policy under very trying circumstances. In 1997 the PPI was finally restored to its rightful owners. The struggle by the two brothers was recognised internationally. In 2002 the International Press Institute, USA, honoured late Mr Aslam Ali posthumously, as one of the fifty heroes of World Press Freedom of the 20th century.

Late Mr Muazzam Ali decided to stay on in the UK, where he launched a number of successful international programmes related to Pakistan and Islam. He also represented Pakistan at the United Nations on various occasions. Due to his many successful endevours in promoting Islamic causes, His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Al Faisal Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invited late Mr Muazzam Ali to join the Dar Al Maal Al Islami Trust (DMI) which was an organisation founded to promote the Islamic Financial System internationally.

Late Mr Muazzam Ali was Vice Chairman DMI whose head office is located in Geneva, Switzerland, for many years. He was instrumental in DMI's expansion into Pakistan, establishing one commercial bank and one investment bank specifically undertaking Shari'ah-compliant banking.

Late Mr Muazzam Ali was also the Vice Chairman of the International Association of Islamic Banks in Cairo, Egypt, Secretary General of the Islamic Press Union in London, and Chairman of the Centre of Pakistan Studies in London. He also served for a while in the Pakistan government as Advisor/Federal Minister on Media/Religious Affairs and Overseas Pakistanis.

He was instrumental in establishing a charity in UK for Islamic education, The Islamic Texts Society was formed in 1981 and he was the Chairman of its Board of Trustees. The Society produces English translations of works of traditional importance to the Islamic faith and culture, including editions of hitherto unpublished manuscripts, and also sponsors contemporary works on Islamic subjects by scholars from all parts of the world. The Society aim is thereby to promote a greater understanding of Islam among both Muslims and non-Muslims, catering for laypersons as well as academics in the field of Islamic studies. He was also the patron of the Islamic Art Foundation sponsoring a renowned independent magazine ARTS & ISLAMIC WORLD of which he was the Chairman of the Board of Editors.

Late Mr Muazzam Ali, as Vice-Chairman of Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami, became keenly aware from the inception of the Islamic banking movement that its success would heavily depend on research, education and training, to develop competent bankers in this new finance industry. In 1978 he set us The Islamic Trust of Europe in London as an eeducational research centre organising conferences and symposiums to promote Islamic education and related activities. In 1985 he set up The International Centre for Islamic Studies in London to promote Islamic teachings, history, economics, art and law as well as the applications of the teachings and principles of Islam to current problems and generally to promote the understanding of the Islam and its teachings among non-Muslims in the UK and anywhere else in the world.

Late Mr Muazzam Ali's commitment to promoting the Islamic Financial System and the social justice culminated in the launch of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance in 1990 as a non-profit organisation supporting a broad spectrum of activities and initiatives in the field. He was an outspoken advocate and as founder and chairman, late Mr Muazzam Ali devoted the last 15 years of his life to chartering a new course in the world of Islamic finance.

Some comments and papers presented by late Mr Muazzam Ali

Islamic Banks and Strategies for Economic Cooperation - 1982
In Search of an Economic Model -1983
Re-establishing the Islamic Identity - 1984
Through the Looking Glass: How the West Views Islamic Banking - 1993
Islamic Banking: The Road Ahead - 1994
Accounting Issues in Islamic Banking - 1994
Failing to Get the Right Corporate Message Across - 1994
Marketing Strategy for Islamic Banks - 1994
Wanted: A Central Plan for the Development of Islamic Banking - 1995
Still Grappling with Basic Issues - 1995
Inviting R&D for Islamic Banks - 1997
Reflections on Islamic Banking - 1997
Pausing for the Moral Thought - 1997
Islamic Banking: Lest us Cross the Hurdles - 1998
Islamic Arts - 1998
Islamic Banking: A Long Journey Ahead - 2000
Promoting the Takaful Industry - 2003
Success of Islamic Finance - 2004
Shari'ah Scholars: Their Contributions and Limitations 2005
Role of Jurists in Islamic Banking 2005
Shari'ah Scholars: Their Contributions and Limitations 2005
Role of Jurists in Islamic Banking 2005

Tributes

Brother Marhoom Muazzam Ali has effectively and earnestly contributed to the establishment and development of DMI Group in his capacity as Member and Vice Chairman of the Board of Supervisors until the end of 1998. The Marhoom has pursued thereafter, with the same energy and enthusiasm, his passion and effective action in the filed of Islamic finance, as Chairman of the Islamic Institute for Islamic Banking and Insurance in London.

On behalf of HRH Prince Mohamed Al Faisal Saudi Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of DMI Trust, as well as on behalf of the members of the Board of Supervisors and Management of DMI Trust.
Osama Mohamed Ali 2005
Secretary to the Board of Supervisors and Group General Counsel DMI Geneva

Journey toward Islamic Banking
Muazzam Ali not only made a major contribution to Islamic finance as a banker through his position at Dar-Al Maal Al-Islami and in providing institutional support through IIBI, but also as a important contributor himself, notably as a thinker and educator on the subject.

Co-operation between Islamic and Western Bankers
Despite difference in the approach to banking by many in the West and the devout that respect and follow shariah law, he believed co-operation rather than confrontation was possible, and pointed to specific practical ways such co-operation could occur. Western development agencies could co-operate with institutions such as the Islamic Development Bank in projects in Asia and Africa, a reality later in the 1980s. Furthermore Muazzam Ali himself, by providing a forum through the IIBI where western bankers could learn about Islamic finance and network with those involved, directly contributed to the opening of Islamic windows and ultimately dedicated Islamic banking subsidiaries by the major western banks.

Involvement with the Pioneers of Islamic Finance
Muazzam Ali knew personally all those involved in the early development of Islamic banking, and in an informative introduction to a publication entitled in search of an Islamic Economic Model, he highlights the major contributions made at a seminar held at Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 1981 on which the book was based. He applauds in particular the contribution of Dr Ahmed El Nagger, the founder of first modern Islamic savings and investment institution in 1963 at Mit Ghamr in the Nile delta. The three essential principles on which this institution operated were participation, decentralization and integrity, with the high degree of trust involved ensuring the success of what was, in effect, an Islamic credit union.

Muazzam Ali as Communicator and Facilitator
Given his experience in journalism, Muazzam Ali was an excellent communicator, and he used these skills to explain the integrities of how Islamic financing facilities were structured and operated, and the underlying principles that ensured their shariah compliance. He correctly highlighted the differences between musharakah and equity partici¬pation which many have confused, and explained the working of the Islamic participation term certificates offered in his native Pakistan, that were to he the precursor of modern sukuk securities.

In addition to being what could be described as the ambassador for Islamic finance in London, Muazzam Ali was able to increase awareness in the Muslim World of the operations and shortcomings of western banking and finance. In an address in Lahore in 1992, which is reprinted in Journey Towards Islamic Banking, he cites par¬ticular cases where debt servicing through interest payments has caused real individual hardship, as well as how it has resulted in collective hardship through the unjustifiable burden of external debt for many developing countries. He points out however that this is not only against Islamic shariah, but is also condemned in Christian teaching, drawing attention to the cri¬tique of western banking by the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Reverend Richard Harris, whom he had meet on several occasions. Bishop Harris was involved with the Christian Ethical Group, and has done much to promote a greater understanding by Christians of Islam, efforts of which Muazzam Ali very much approved.

A Vision of Islamic Banking Sustainability

Muazzam Ali was realistic as well as idealistic, as he recognised that Islamic banks could not simply prosper by being value oriented, but also had to be profitable. The success of Islamic bank¬ing proved to him that there was no incompatibility between adhering to shariah law and making profits, indeed rather than there being a trade-off, reli¬giously motivated banking could actual¬ly he more profitable. He drew parallels between Islamic banking and the ethical finance movement in the West, as he followed closely developments in the latter, both through conferences and workshops and by keeping up with what was happening through his reading of banking journals and financial commentaries.

"Muazzam Ali was a vocal critic of both communist and capitalistic economic systems, but applauded the increasing stress on ethical values and the recognition that financiers cannot ignore the beliefs of their clients. In many respects he was ahead of his time, yet his practical and organisational abilities ensured his efforts had both an immediate and a long-term impact that will be with us for many years to come".

Professor Rodney Wilson 2005 University of Durham, UK Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

A man's dedication can be assessed by where he spends two things: his wealth and his time. We all follow one career or another. We all declare our sympathy for this or that cause. Our dearly respected Syed Muazzam Ali began his career as a journalist, but he invested his personal time and wealth into the cause that he believed in most: Islamic art and Islamic finance. How many of us can say the same?

In my memory, Brother Muazzam was one of the first people to realize that the beauty and softness of the Islamic tradition needed to be preserved and shared with the world. This was the secret to his passion for Islamic art, and the reason he established a premier journal dedicated to art in the Islamic world.

He brought the same passion to another cause, whose success at the time was less than certain. He was believer among skeptics; here was a journalist who wrote extensively on Islamic finance before it become newsworthy. And when he tried from DMI in 1998 after nearly two decades of services, he focused all his attention on IIBI regularly and saw over it like a father. Since his love for Islamic finance grew out of his love for Islam, he was deeply committed to the University of Islamic Finance. He therefore insisted on its relevance to all human beings: not just to Muslims and to Muslim states, but also to OECD regulators, to conventional banks and to western bankers.

People aspire to have a successful career; Muazzam sahib had several. In each case, he sought to communicate his passion to others and to give it shape by establishing landmark institutions. If Emerson was correct in saying that “an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man,” Brother Muazzam cast a very long shadow.
Iqbal Khan 2005
CEO, HSBC Amanah Finance

He was a man of conviction; a man of faith; a truly good Muslim. His death will definitely have appreciable adverse effect on Muslim Ummah. His sincerely devoted life to spread the voice of Islam throughout the world was undoubtedly an exception. His character, his honesty, and his brotherly humble behavior have impressed me most. Although he might not have considered me as a close friend but my short period of close acquaintance with him made me feel him being an extra-ordinary Brother in Islam.

Iraj Toutounchian 2005
Professor of Economics Tehran

What most impressed me in those first meetings was his willingness to take the time to pass on not only his technical knowledge in what were early days for the Islamic Banking industry but also to make sure that the ethical context was well understood. He wanted his listener to understand the 'why' as well as the what' and the 'how'. Muazzam's 'shin¬ing' quality never left him and his indefatigable working to make Islamic banking credible marks him out as one of the genuine pioneers of the Islamic financial services industry.

During the 1990s and into the new millennium his efforts in the establishment and development of the Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance have been monumental. I well remember trekking over to the Institute's first home near Kings Cross and listening to Muazzam introducing speakers at the lectures and seminars he arranged. He was one of the earliest if not the ear¬liest person in the industry in the UK to realize that the major thing that was holding back the growth of Islamic Banking was the limited number of knowledgeable, intellectually curious practitioners.

As a natural educator, his vision was to have the Institute act as a clearing house for new ideas, new structures and new instruments, bringing academics, lawyers, scholars and bankers together in one place to engage in debate and to find answers to challenging questions - and frequently giving them a good lunch as well. One of the spin off effects of this part of Muazzam's work has been to cement London's place in the industry as the leading 'international' centre for Islamic Banking, another has been to engage with and be a reference source for the regulators thus indirectly assisting with the introduction of retail Islamic Banking for Britain's Muslims. In recent years although his health was not robust Muazzam continued to try to remain faithful to his ideals for the Institute; this must have been quite a strain and a worry for him. If it was, he carried it well.

Apart from his long and tireless work in developing Islamic Banking, though, Muazzam will, I think, be remembered by his friends in the industry most for his personal qualities, particularly his warmth, his genuineness and his patience. These are rare qualities in the modern world of business and will be missed. More broadly, his legacy to Islamic Finance is an immense one and we are grateful for his selfless and unstinting efforts. I have known and worked with him for twenty something years – originally when he was at DMI – and have not come across a nicer, more genuine man anywhere during the whole of my working life. As one of the major moving forces in the development of Islamic Banking and Finance globally he will be sorely missed though his legacy and example are there for all of us to benefit from and to build on.
Duncan Smith 2005
Head of Islamic Asset Management, Arab Banking Corporation, Bahrain

The Islamic financial services industry will mourn the loss of a figurehead who worked tirelessly to improve it. I will mourn the loss of an exceptional man who was such an influence in many of our careers.
Stella Cox 2005
Managing Director, Dawnay, Day Global Investment Limited London

He was a truly universal Muslim who believed in the all-inclusiveness of Islam as he firmly believed that Islam was revealed for the benefit of mankind … As I was reading the Financial Times article, I wondered how many people among the millions reading this article realised Muazzam Ali's contributions to the growth and spread of Islamic finance. I wondered how many realise that when Muazzam Ali began his efforts in introducing Islamic banking and finance to the West, the market was estimated at only US$50 million, and today it is estimated at close to US$300 billion and growing at conservatively estimated at 10 percent a year. And, I wonder if the future generations of Muslims will come to know of him and his contributions to the development of Islamic finance to which he devoted the best years of his life. He truly believed in the prophetic saying that it was the duty of Muslims to search for knowledge and the wisdom wherever they can find them. Accordingly he believed that Muslims could learn useful lessons from the financial developments in the West and that it Islamic banking has to develop, it has to take advantage of innovative products wherever possible. Equally, he often admonished the Westerners to learn from Islam for their own benefit.

Dr Abbas Mirakhor 2005 Executive Director, IMF, USA

Muazzam was vice-chairman of the Dar Maal Al Islami Group. He was instrumental in DMI's expansion into Pakistan and the establishment of the Faysal banks in that important Islamic country. Muazzam was a pioneer of Islamic Banking in his own right. His unflagging integrity, his determination and his moral courage have set the best examples to Islamic Bankers all over the world. With his death, Islamic Banking and the wider Islamic world have lost one of their staunchest promoters.
Omar Ali 2005
Former CEO DMI Geneva, Switzerland

Mr Ali was such a respected figure and he will be very much missed.
Richard de T Belder 2005
Denton Wilde Sapte Dubai UAE

Whilst I had known Mr Muazzam Ali only for a short period he struck me as a man of conviction and great passion for the Institute. He will be greatly missed.
Michael Hanlon
Managing Director, Islamic Bank of Britain UK

Mr Muazzam Ali's very sad and sudden death is a personal loss to me of a respected father-figure both in Islamic Banking and as a person and I am sure also to the entire Islamic Banking industry. But he had left a wonderful legacy in the Institute of Islamic Banking which it is for us all to maintain and develop from strength to strength.
Warren Edwardes 2005
CEO, Delphi Risk Management Limited London

Muazzam was a good man – a very good man – with a wonderful combination of practical and academic talents that he used with great skill to motivate people to excel. Always at the centre of any decision, he was a stickler for doing the right thing, and not prepared to compromise where his strongly help principles were concerned. I once listened with fascination as he demolished an argument that held films to be haram – with Muazzam holding firmly that films are a powerful means of communication, with Muslims holding the responsibility to consider and reject unseemly content. His dedication to education and innovation was absolute. He recognized that success would only come once a detailed and accurate message relating to the opportunities and tasks ahead was disseminated to Muslim and non-Muslim alike. He work – the books, the workshops, the lectures, the diploma course – all were building blocks toward this goal.

His constant refrain was ‘innovation' – never satisfied with the ‘status quo' he always urged innovation – new products, not re-vamped conventional products.
It is very important that we do not let his hopes and aspirations die or founder. As a true fore – father of modern Islamic finance, he has no peer. So it is our duty to continue his work. In remembrance of great man, we should do all within our power to ensure that the Institute grows in permutation and in strength so that its powerful message continues.

James Hume 2005
Omega Group Services Dubai UAE

We will remember brother Muazzam Ali as a compassionate father figure who devoted his life to the promotion of Islamic banking.He devoted all his life to set an example for the younger generations of our society so that they learn from him how to persevere against occasional hardships and work with determination towards success. This determination was not diminished by his old age and failing health in the later years of his years. He dedicated all his life so that others to take his mantle and pursue the noble goals he set for himself.
Suleiman A. Dualeh 2005
Managing Director, Integrated Property Investments UK

In more than one ways Br Muazzam was the pioneer of serious work on Islamic Banking. We owe a great debt of gratitude to him for the flowering of products and providers we see in the market today.
M Iqbal Asaria 2005
Special Advisor on Business & Economic Affairs to the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain UK

His long dedication to the Islamic finance industry will never be forgotten. As founder of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance in London he will be remembered always.
Dr. S Nazim Ali 2005 Director, Islamic Finance Project Islamic Legal Studies Program Harvard Law School, USA

He was a pioneer in the world if Islamic Finance.
Dawood Yousef Taylor 2005
Assistant General Manager, Head of Takaful Ta'awuni
Bank Al Jazira, Jeddah. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Indeed the services rendered by late Muazzam Ali, in the field of Islamic Banking and Finance is a SADDAQA Jarreeyya. He was a man with great vision, determination and abilities. He will be remembered always.
Tariq Masood Shaikh 2005
Islamic Finance Council UK

We found him a charming, interested gentleman of great presence and warmth. His leadership and innovations leave a great legacy - one that we trust will not be forgotten
Scott A J MacDonald 2005
Managing Director
MacDonald Asset Consulting Pty Ltd Sydney, Australia

I only met Muazzam briefly but having spent some time in your library it was clear that his contribution to the industry was omnipresent.
Brian Kettell 2005
London